Islam
Islam ( ;There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s'' is or , and whether the ''a is pronounced , or (when the stress is on the first syllable) (Merriam Webster). The most common are (Oxford English Dictionary, Random House) and (American Heritage Dictionary). ) is an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah), and that Muhammad is a messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest religion with over 1.9 billion followers or 24.4% of the world's population, commonly known as Muslims.According to Oxford Dictionaries, "Muslim is the preferred term for 'follower of Islam,' although Moslem is also widely used." Muslims make up a majority of the population in 50 countries. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, |year=2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-2696-8|page=34|chapter=Allah}} and has guided mankind through prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, believed to be the verbatim word of God, and the teachings and normative examples (called the sunnah, composed of accounts called hadith) of Muhammad ( 570 – 8 June 632 CE).Elizabeth Goldman (1995), p. 63, gives 8 June 632 CE, according to Islamic tradition. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and the Quran in its Arabic to be the unaltered and final revelation of God. Like other Abrahamic religions, Islam also teaches a final judgment with the righteous rewarded in paradise and unrighteous punished in hell. Religious concepts and practices include the Five Pillars of Islam, which are obligatory acts of worship, and following Islamic law (sharia), which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, from banking and welfare to women and the environment. * * The cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are home to the three holiest sites in Islam. Aside from the theological narrative, Islam is historically believed to have originated in the early 7th century CE in Mecca, |title=Islam and the Integration of Society|last=Watt|first=William Montgomery|date=2003|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780415175876|location=|pages=5|language=en}} and by the 8th century the Umayyad Caliphate extended from Iberia in the west to the Indus River in the east. The Islamic Golden Age refers to the period traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century, during the Abbasid Caliphate, when much of the historically Muslim world was experiencing a scientific, economic and cultural flourishing,George Saliba (1994), A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam, pp. 245, 250, 256–257. New York University Press, . The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and dynasties such as the Ottoman Empire, trade and conversion to Islam by missionary activities (dawah).The preaching of Islam: a history of the propagation of the Muslim faith By Sir Thomas Walker Arnold, pp. 125–258 Most Muslims are of one of two denominations; Sunni (75–90%) or Shia (10-20%). About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country; % in the Middle East–North Africa region, where it is the dominant religion; % of Muslims live in South Asia, |page=193 |title=South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today|last=Pechilis|first=Karen|last2=Raj|first2=Selva J.|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415448512 |language=en}} the largest population of Muslims in the world; and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sizeable Muslim communities are also found in the Americas, Caucasus, Central Asia, China, Europe, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, and Russia. Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world. Etymology and meaning in Mecca is the direction of prayer and Muslim destination of pilgrimage]] Islām ( ) is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root S-L-M which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, sincerity, safeness, and peace.Dictionary listing for Siin roots derived from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon via www.studyquran.co.uk In a religious context, it means "voluntary submission to God". Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means "submission to God" or "surrender to God". Muslim, the word applied to an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the same verb form, and means "submitter to God" or "one who surrenders to God". The word sometimes has distinct connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as an internal spiritual state: "Whomsoever God desires to guide, He opens his heart to Islam." * , , * Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive (see Islam (term) }} Other verses connect Islam and religion (dīn) together: "Today, I have perfected your religion (dīn) for you; I have completed My blessing upon you; I have approved Islam for your religion." , , Still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. * , * In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān (faith), and ihsān (excellence). Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is sometimes said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims' religion, parallel to Buddha in Buddhism. Some authors, however, continue to use the term Muhammadanism as a technical term for the religious system as opposed to the theological concept of Islam that exists within that system.Kenneth G. Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English ( ), p. 291: Muhammadan and Mohammedan are based on the name of the prophet Mohammed, and both are considered offensive. Articles of faith Faith (Iman) in the Islamic creed (Aqidah) is often represented as the six articles of faith, notably spelled out in the Hadith of Gabriel. Concept of God showing "Allah" (God) in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey]] Islam is often seen as having the simplest doctrines of the major religions. Its most fundamental concept is a rigorous monotheism, called tawḥīd ( ). God is described in chapter 112 of the Quran as: "Say, He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him" ( ). * * * * 248}} * Islam rejects polytheism and idolatry, called Shirk, and reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension and thus Muslims are not expected to anthropomorphise him.God Created the Universe with the Purpose to Serve Humankind: God Created ... By Fateh Ullah Khan p. 298 [ |year=2009|publisher=Fateh Ullah Khan Gandapur|isbn=978-969-9399-00-8|pages=298–}} |title=Islamic Unity and Happiness|last=Turfe |first=Tallal Alie|page=37|publisher=TTQ, Inc.|year=1985|isbn=9780940368477}} |title=What is Islam? By Jamaal Zarabozo p. 37|accessdate=7 October 2014}} |last1=Agwan|first1=A.R. |last2=Khan |first2=N.K. |title=A–E|page=357|publisher=Global Vision Publishing|isbn=9788187746003|year=2000 }} God is described and referred to by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahmān, meaning "The Compassionate" and Al-Rahīm, meaning "The Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam). Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, "Be, and it is" * * and that the purpose of existence is to worship or to know God. * * David Leeming The Oxford Companion to World Mythology Oxford University Press 2005 p. 209 He is viewed as a personal god who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls him. * * There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God who states, "I am nearer to him than (his) jugular vein." God consciousness is referred to as Taqwa. Allāh is a term, with no plural or gender being ascribed, used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews in reference to God, while ( ) is a term used for a deity or a god in general. * * "Islam and Christianity", Encyclopedia of Christianity (2001): Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also refer to God as Allāh. * Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance "Khodā" in Persian or "Ḵẖudā" in Urdu. Angels . From the manuscript Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, 1307, Ilkhanate period.]] Belief in angels is fundamental to Islam. The Quranic word for angel ( ) derives either from Malaka, meaning "he controlled", due to their power to govern different affairs assigned to them,Syed Anwer Ali Qurʼan, the Fundamental Law of Human Life: Surat ul-Faateha to Surat-ul-Baqarah (sections 1–21) Syed Publications 1984 University of Virginia Digitalized 22. Okt. 2010 p. 121. or from the root either from ’-l-k, l-’-k or m-l-k with the broad meaning of a "messenger", just like its counterparts in Hebrew (malʾákh) and Greek (angelos). Unlike their Hebrew counterpart, the term is exclusively used for heavenly spirits of the divine world, but not for human messengers. The Quran refers to both angelic and human messengers as "rasul" instead.S.R. Burge Journal of Qur'anic Studies The Angels in Sūrat al-Malāʾika: Exegeses of Q. 35:1 Sep 2011. vol. 10, no. 1 : pp. 50–70 The Quran is the principal source for the Islamic concept of angels.Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik Routledge 2015 p. 23. Some of them, such as Gabriel and Michael, are mentioned by name in the Quran, others are only referred to by their function. In hadith literature, angels are often assigned to only one specific phenomena.Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik Routledge 2015 p. 79 Angels play a significant role in Mi'raj literature, where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens.Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik Routledge 2015 p. 29 Further angels have often been featured in Islamic eschatology, Islamic theology and Islamic philosophy.Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik Routledge 2015 p. 22 Duties assigned to angels include, for example, communicating revelations from God, glorifying God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. In Islam, just like in Judaism and Christianity, angels are often represented in anthropomorphic forms combined with supernatural images, such as wings, being of great size or wearing heavenly articles.Stephen Burge Angels in Islam: Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's al-Haba'ik fi akhbar al-mala'ik Routledge 2015 pp. 97–99. The Quran describes them as "messengers with wings—two, or three, or four (pairs)..." * * * * Common characteristics for angels are their missing needs for bodily desires, such as eating and drinking.Cenap Çakmak Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia volumes ABC-CLIO, 18 May 2017 p. 140. Their lack of affinity to material desires is also expressed by their creation from light: Angels of mercy are created from nur (cold light) in opposition to the angels of punishment created from nar (hot light).Jane Dammen McAuliffe Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān Volume 3 Georgetown University, Washington DC p. 45 Muslims do not generally share the perceptions of angelic pictorial depictions, such as those found in Western art. Revelations of the Quran, Al-Fatiha (The Opening), is seven verses]] The Islamic holy books are the records which most Muslims believe were dictated by God to various prophets. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel), had become distorted—either in interpretation, in text, or both. * Accad (2003): According to Ibn Taymiya, although only some Muslims accept the textual veracity of the entire Bible, most Muslims will grant the veracity of most of it. * * * * * The Quran (literally, "Recitation") is viewed by Muslims as the final revelation and literal word of God and is widely regarded as the finest literary work in the classical Arabic language.Chejne, A. (1969) The Arabic Language: Its Role in History, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Speicher, K. (1997) in: Edzard, L., and Szyska, C. (eds.) Encounters of Words and Texts: Intercultural Studies in Honor of Stefan Wild. Georg Olms, Hildesheim, pp. 43–66. Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God through the archangel Gabriel (Jibrīl) on many occasions between 610 CE until his death on June 8, 632. While Muhammad was alive, all of these revelations were written down by his companions (sahabah), although the prime method of transmission was orally through memorization. The Quran is divided into 114 chapters (suras) which combined, contain 6,236 verses (āyāt). The chronologically earlier suras, revealed at Mecca, are primarily concerned with ethical and spiritual topics. The later Medinan suras mostly discuss social and legal issues relevant to the Muslim community. * * The Quran is more concerned with moral guidance than legislation, and is considered the "sourcebook of Islamic principles and values". Muslim jurists consult the hadith ("reports"), or the written record of Prophet Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The science of Quranic commentary and exegesis is known as tafsir. * * The set of rules governing proper elocution of recitation is called tajwid. Muslims usually view "the Quran" as the original scripture as revealed in Arabic and that any translations are necessarily deficient, which are regarded only as commentaries on the Quran. * * * : The word Quran was invented and first used in the Qurʼan itself. There are two different theories about this term and its formation. Prophets and sunnah , Moses, Jesus and other prophets in prayer.]] Muslims identify the 'prophets' ( ) as those humans chosen by God at different times in the past, to convey his messages(warnings and glad tidings), teachings(way of personal life) and legislation(public life) to people while being in contact with God mostly through revelation. According to the Quran, the prophets were instructed by God to bring the "will of God" to the peoples of the nations. Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claim. Islamic theology says that all of God's messengers preached the message of Islam—submission to the will of God. The Quran mentions the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, among others. * * Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad as the last law-bearing prophet (Seal of the prophets) to convey the divine message to the whole world (to sum up and to finalize the word of God). In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's actions in their daily lives and the sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran.* Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (2003), p. 666* * This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith, which recount his words, his actions, and his personal characteristics. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as verbatim words of God quoted by Muhammad but is not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad, and the actual wording, called matn. Hadiths can be classified, by studying the narration, as "authentic" or "correct", called sahih ( ), "good", called hasan ( ) or "weak", called daʻīf ( ) among others. Muhammad al-BukhariRead, Study, Search Online. Sahih Bukhari. Retrieved on 2013-07-28. collected over 300,000 hadith, but only included 2,602 distinct hadith that passed veracity tests that codified them as authentic into his book Sahih al-Bukhari, which is considered by Sunnis to be the most authentic source after the Quran.[ |date=2007|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-15839-9}}Muqaddimah Ibn al-Salah, pp. 160–169 Dar al-Ma'aarif edition Another famous source(s) of hadiths is known as The Four Books, which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference. Resurrection and judgment Belief in the "Day of Resurrection", Yawm al-Qiyāmah ( ) is also crucial for Muslims. They believe the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God but unknown to man. The trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah are described in the Quran and the hadith, and also in the commentaries of scholars. The Quran emphasizes bodily resurrection, a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death. * "Resurrection", The New Encyclopedia of Islam (2003) * : Ibn Sīnā, Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Sīnā is known in the West as "Avicenna". * On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all humankind will be judged on their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell). The Qurʼan in Surat al-Zalzalah describes this as, "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it (99:7) and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it (99:8)." The Qurʼan lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell, such as disbelief in God ( ), and dishonesty; however, the Qurʼan makes it clear God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he so wills. Good deeds, such as charity, prayer and compassion towards animals,Animals in Islam By Basheer Ahmad Masri p. 27''What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam''. Second Edition: By John L. Esposito p. 130 will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Qurʼanic references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God. * ; Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World, p. 565 * "Heaven", The Columbia Encyclopedia (2000) * * Yawm al-Qiyāmah is also identified in the Quran as Yawm ad-Dīn ( ), "Day of Religion"; as-sāʿah ( ), "the Last Hour"; and al-Qāriʿah ( ), "The Clatterer". Divine will The concept of divine will is referred to as , which literally derives from a root that means to measure. Everything, good and bad, is believed to have been decreed.* : "The idea of predestination is reinforced by the frequent mention of events 'being written' or 'being in a book' before they happen: 'Say: "Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us..." ' "* : The verb qadara literally means "to measure, to determine". Here it is used to mean that "God measures and orders his creation". References Notes Citations Books and journals * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * }} * * * * * * }} * }} * }} * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Siljander, Mark D. and John David Mann. A Deadly Misunderstanding: a Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide. First ed. New York: Harper One, 2008. * * }} * * * * * * * * Encyclopedias * * * * |year=2008 |publisher= SAGE; Cato Institute |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n155 |isbn= 978-1-4129-6580-4 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages= 256–258 |quote=|ref= |chapter= Islam |title= The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism}} * * * * * * * * Further reading * Abdul-Haqq, Abdiyah Akbar (1980). Sharing Your Faith with a Muslim. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers. N.B. Presents the genuine doctrines and concepts of Islam and of the Holy Qur'an, and this religion's affinities with Christianity and its Sacred Scriptures, in order to "dialogue" on the basis of what both faiths really teach. * * * Cragg, Kenneth (1975). The House of Islam, in The Religious Life of Man Series. Second ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1975. xiii, 145 p. . * Hourani, Albert (1991). Islam in European Thought. First pbk. ed. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1992, cop. 1991. xi, 199 p. ; alternative ISBN on back cover, 0-521-42120-0. * * A. Khanbaghi (2006). The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran. I. B. Tauris. * Khavari, Farid A. (1990). Oil and Islam: the Ticking Bomb. First ed. Malibu, Calif.: Roundtable Publications. viii, 277 p., ill. with maps and charts. . * * * * * * * * * * * * External links ;Academic resources * Patheos Library – Islam * University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts * Divisions in Islam ;Online resources * Islam, article at Encyclopædia Britannica * ;Directories * Islam (Bookshelf) at Project Gutenberg * Islam from UCB Libraries GovPubs Category:Islam Category:Monotheistic religions Category:Abrahamic religions Category:610 establishments Category:Religious organizations established in the 7th century Category:Religions with official status in Kurdistan Region